My Art - Mingle page

I created this mingle page a while back and am just getting to post it now!! I used the altering technique I described earlier for the transparency. Sanded the backs of them so they could be coloured and altered to suit my layout. I used stamp pads to alter these ones. The quote is handwritten and I used my double sided tape on these transparencies as well. I am very happy with this new tape. I used packaging as the base of this page and it worked out very well.
Be on the look out for items you can use in your art that are readily available in your home - decorative cardboard, clear plastic, printed images, colourful backgrounds, etc. I usually evaluate whatever is being routed to the recycle bind for art potential!!

Therese

My Art - Card exchange

For the card exchange with my stamping group I decided to try a new Pearl Ex technique from the Technique Junkies Newsletter!! It took a few tries to get it to work out as I wanted it to but I am very happy with how they turned out. I applied the Perfect Pearls to still warm clear embossing powder. Because my image was so large I had to do it a piece at the time so I applied several different colours of mica powders. I heated the EP again so that the mica powder would incorporate and become permanent. Really love the look of it!! Not wanting to cover up too much of the image I added some copper decorative paper (gift wrap), some copper brads and some mesh which had been embossed with copper embossing powder!! The copper metal embellishment was just the perfect thing to finish off the card which I applied with a bit of hot glue to hold the mesh and 3D foam tape for a bit of pop!! Really happy with the way this one turned out so I made two more for my other card exchange!!

Therese

My Art - Cardmaking - Altered

We played with some altering techniques for this card. Stamped harlequin background (SU) onto the card front as well as onto an old book page with walnut ink. Trimmed the page to fit on the front of the card. I created a torn edge on the right hand side. Over this I layered a transparency which I printed with my laser printer and some images from the internet. This leaf one is from Trish Bayley. I also used a light house, a woman with a child, the Eiffel tower (Brenda Braun) and a scene with an old automobile!! To allow the transparency to be altered I sanded the back side so it would also accept walnut ink. Everyone enjoyed the process of adding walnut ink to their pieces!! You could use acrylic paints or pads and/or reinkers instead of walnut ink. Certainly using a different colour would give the card a totally different look. I used some new double sided tape on the back in the dark areas and it did not show at all on the front side. To secure it on the bottom corner I overlayered a book plate with greeting and attached it with brads. Added another brad to the other corner to have it well attached. It is fun to alter items and add them to your cards. The bookplate was cut from silver foil which I sanded and painted with burnt umber acrylic paint. I sealed the paint with clear acrylic finish to make it more permanent. Try your hand at altering some of your regular supplies to get a more antique look.

Therese

My Art - Cardmaking - roses

Love this card!! I used a NEW CB embossing folder with leaves which I bought at Stamplicity in Port Colburne when I we were in Niagara Falls with my sister!! Really like this embossing folder!! The rose images are stickers which I have had for while now and they worked out so well on this card!! The pink/script layer is torn to meet the embossed leaves. I added a ribbon and a colour printed greeting with 3D foam tape.

Therese

My Art - Cardmaking - die cut flower

I added texture to this card with "mesh" which is adhesive drywall tape!! You can usually buy small rolls at a Dollar store if you don't have some hanging around the garage like we have at our house!! The card front was stippled with a stipple stamp (SU) in coordinating ink and the mesh applied. We used pencil crayons on it to add colour and some depth. It worked so well. The flower die cut is embellished with a punch shape and a collaged handmade paper button which I created using a 1 1/4" punch and 1/8" punch. They looked really cool!! I tied some coordinating fibers into the button and just layered all the die cuts to each other and glued the embellishment to the card front with hot glue so it would attach well over the mesh. Brought several greetings so participants could choose what worked best for them.

Therese

My Art - Cardmaking - embossed

Cardmaking for October has come and gone!! This was a fun card to prepare - no kits were the same!! I embossed backgrounds using several different Cuttlebug embossing folders and stamped images on decorated glossy cardstock in Memories ink or embossed them with metallic embossing powder. The image was layered on the card front and the insert glued to the inside before I tied on the bundle of fibers!! These cards were a lot of fun and it was fun to see how all the different images and colour combinations came together!!

Therese

My Art - Baby cards

Have been making baby cards!! My neighbour had a baby boy in early October and my friend's neice had a baby girl a few days later so I made up some cards to give as gifts!!

For the blue cards I made up some decorative paper with acrylic paint and added some pearly paint to give it some sheen. Cut it to fit on the top of an #8 card and added some white embossed cardstock (CB swiss dots) below that. Added a ribbon in blue with a piece of white tied in. Saw that recently on card and thought it was cool!! Added a rectangle which I cornered rounded and folded over the edge of the card embellished with a button and some pearly thread.

The pink cards are made up from some duplex colour printed cardstock I made up a while back. Added some embossed cardstock (CB swiss dot) below that with a strip of cardstock between the two. The embellishment is a punched scallop (SU) with the scallops pierced with a push pin. Added a layer of pink (1 3/8"), a stamped circle of dots punched with the 1 1/4" punch (SU) and a pink button tied with pearly thread in the middle of that!

My sister has been visiting and this was one of our crafty projects for a day!!

We also spent an evening refurbishing Christmas cards for our soldiers in Afghanistan. One of the girls here is collecting cards to send over so they can send them home to their families. We made them all appropriate for kids knowing that those might be in short supply!!

Therese

Technique - resizing large envlelopes

I have some large commercial card envelopes that I have acquired over the years that are often too large for the cards I am making. I finally decided to work out a way to use them for my A2 invitation sized cards.
I start out with a 8.25" x 5.75" envelope and cut out the middle section to fit my A2 card, cut off both ends from the scraps and glue them back on each side. You end up with a nice slim envelope with a nice triangular flap. Adding the two side pieces covers up your card and keeps the card from being damaged in transit.
If you have a stash of large envelopes consider modifying them so you can use them for your smaller cards.

I hope the info on the right is useful.

If you have a card shop close to you inquire about getting the envelopes when they change up their card displays. The envelopes are not returned to the company and you can often get them for free. I use them for my personal cards and for the cards I refurbish. I think it would be inappropriate for them to be used for cards made for sale.

Therese

My Art - Masculine card

Have a few male birthdays coming up so made a couple of these cards this weekend. My skeleton leaves were not quite the right colour so I just applied ink from my green Memories pad until they were the right colour. The background paper is one I received in a swap somewhere along the way as is the suede paper. Have never used suede paper before - wonderful texture. I stitched the leaf to the suede paper with embroidery floss and then glued that layer to the card. Worked out very well.

I am slowly learning to make more than one card at a time. Very little extra time but more cards to put in my stash!!

Therese

My Art - card for caregivers

A special card for a special person! I made this card for a special woman in our family who cares for another who is in the first stages of Alzheimers. Carolyn King is having a contest on her blog to encourage everyone to send cards to a caregiver of someone with Alzheimers. There are so many whose lives have been touched by this illness and the caregivers surely need support to continue day after day. There is an address on her blog where you can send a card if you have no person to send a card to.

This large card features watercoloured roses, scrapbooking paper, a hand embellished strip with ribbon and a stamped greeting.

It will wing its way in tomorrow's mail!!

I encourage you to check out Carolyn's blog and send a card!!

Therese

My Art - Tart tags

We are having a fundraiser garage/bake sale tomorrow at our church to raise funds for an orphanage in Mexico. I made a LOT of tarts - raspberry, almond, butter and chocolate!! Decided to spiff them up so packaged them nicely and added these cool little tags!! Punched scallop circles with the SU scallop punch, added a 1 3/8" coordinating layer and then the details which I printed on my computer and punched with the 1 1/4" punch. Stampin UP now makes a 1 3/4" punch which would add another layer! Have that one on my Wish list!!

I have begun to change up the way I eat so I will not be having any of the wonderful tarts I made. I am avoiding high glycemic foods because they cause an insulin response in the body and cause fat to be stored. Who knew!!! If you can keep your blood sugars low and avoid having an insulin response you can force your body to get the fuel it needs from your fat stores!! Excellent!! It does require that I do not combine carbohydrates (rice, bread, pasta) and proteins in the same meal but on average that has not been too difficult to manage. You can eat as many low glycemic vegetables as you want!! If you want more information check out Suzanne Sommer's books on the subject of low glycemic index foods and food combining for weight loss. I have taken several books out of the library that addresses this issue. I have lost a few pounds and feel much better. I would highly recommend this approach to eating to anyone who really wants to take off the extra weight without lots of rules and counting of calories.

Therese

My Art - September Cardmaking #4

Another card that fits into my stash of #8 envelopes!! The stash is slowly dwindling and I am trying to decide if I will get another box of them when I run out! It has been fun to challenge myself to create in a different format.
To fit the #8 envelope I cut my cardstock to 3.5 "x 11" and folded at 1" and 7.25". Used a piece of decorative cardstock - double sided colour printed - to bridge the gap between the two edges. Added a punch with an eyelet. Found instructions online somewhere on how to set eyelets and am finding the process more consistent. I am using the Making Memories eyelet setter and a little hammer. When setting the eyelet just hammer the setter on the back of the eyelet until it starts to spread and then use the hammer directly on the back of the eyelet to firmly set it. Works much better than continuing to use the setter which I found often distorted the eyelet. Punched a slot (SU slot punch) and added a bit of a cord to wrap around the circle to keep the card closed.
The greeting is stamped in Memories Black which is permanent and allows it to be watercoloured. Layered it onto coordinating cardstock and then to the left of the card. Added a bit of overstamping on the brown one to add a bit of depth to the cardstock.
Therese

My Art - exchange card

Have been playing with my new embossing folders for the Cuttlebug! Love the Swiss Dot one which I used on the top of this card! It is my new favorite one after the D'vine Swirl. I do really like the bird one I used on the bottom of this card as well. I added a bit of colour with my pigment stamp pads but I expect you could use chalk, pastels and even watercolour instead. I cut the bookplate with my Sizzix die using my Cuttlebug and layered my greeting under it. Added a strip to cover the joint between the embossed layers, a ribbon and a flower accent. Really love the softness of this card!!
Stampin Up has a Big Shot in their new catalog!! I think I can use all of them in my Cuttlebug but would need to buy the long cutting plates to use the big dies for the little basket and the star!! I was over at my SU demo's open house and she was doing demonstrations!! It is a very cool machine and if I did not already have one I would be buying the Big Shot. My daughter has a Big Kick and so I did some comparing online and can find no huge difference between the Big Kick and the Big Shot.

Therese

My Art - Card making #1

With the fall comes the back to our regular life so I am back to my cardmaking sessions!! It has been fun to prepare for this class and it was great to be back to this great group of people!! I have added a morning class to the schedule so I had one person come on Wednesday morning!! It is so much fun to help people stretch their creative muscles.
I stamped the background of this card with my SU stipple stamp and some bleach. I made a stamp pad with a foam tray, a paper towel and a bit of bleach. Works great! Be sure to clean your stamps right after using them. We stippled a bit more colour on it at class using the large kids paint brushes you can buy at the dollar stores and a coordinating stamp pad. I also added a bit of colour to my silk flower with the stipple brush and my stamp pad. I buy light coloured silks so they are easily modified in this way. Trimmed the strip by tearing the edges (options - deco scissors), stippled the edges and stamped my greeting. Glued this to the card. Layered the skeleton leaf with a very light layer of glue on the back and attached the flower accent over the bottom of the leaf stem to permanently attach it to the card front. Quick and easy!!!
Therese

My Art - September Cardmaking #3

I challenged myself to come up with a card that used handmade paper!! For the fall I usually combine pressed leaves and handmade paper but decided I needed to change it up this year.
I used the Swiss Dot embossing folder for the background in white or ivory. Stamped the SU Always greeting and punched it out with the large SU oval punch. Layered it on coordinating cardstock and cut them out with decorative scissors. Added some fiber to the embossed layer then added the greeting with 3D foam tape which adds some dimesion to the card. The 3D foam tape also is very effective on the embossed paper and ensures the fiber will stay in place as well. I created the flower using incrementally larger pieces of coordinating handmade paper. Just ripped the first little round shape and then used it as a guideline as I ripped the other just a bit larger. I did add stippling to the third layer because the colours were pretty close to the same and they needed to contrast a little more. Love the texture of the handmade paper!! Ripped out a couple of leaves, glued the layers to each other and used hot glue to mount the flower to my card!!
I would highly recommend learning to make paper so you can use up your scraps!! It is easy and fun!!

Therese

My Art - September Cardmaking #2

Inspired by my exchange card I decided to play with fall colours and made up a few of these with the hydrangeas leftover from the bunches I bought for last year's Christmas card class. These had some orange in them so worked very well with the fall colours. The bookplates are gold on these ones which I die cut from some matte gold cardstock I bought on my last trip to Cleveland.
I did some of them up with more of a male theme using the distress lines and paisley embossing folders!! I like playing with different materials using the same card map. You could easily substitute decorative paper - your own or scrapbooking paper - instead of the embossed layers for a totally different look. Consider creating a different flower accent with punchies instead. So many possibilities!!
Therese

My Art - Make and Take for cardmaking

Created this little handout for promoting my cardmaking sessions at a community fair on Thursday afternoon!! They turned out pretty cute and give practical information such a nice twist! Handed out a few, though I had prepared over 30! Ever optimistic!!
I finished them up this morning and will use them to promote by classes by having them in my handbag to handout when I meet people around town.

These are 2.75" x 2.75" or so. I used a word processing program to print out the inside information - 6 to an 8.5"x11" sheet. I folded them, stamped them and then cut up some scrapbooking paper scraps and a few embellishments to fancy them up.

These were fun to make!!

Therese

Refurbished cards

I have been refurbishing some cards for donating to a local resource center! These cards are commercial cards that were donated to me by a member of the community. I have a box of commercial envelopes that were donated to me by one of the girls on one my stamping group which I rummaged through to house the refurbished cards. It is sometimes a challenge to get the cards to fit in the envelopes I have available but on average I can make it work.
I also refurbish all the handmade cards I get through exchanges and swaps to donate to this center. They really appreciate having nice thank you cards for sending to the different organizations and individuals that donate items, time or resources to their events and well as having some personal cards for their outreach programs.
I file the cards by seasons and donate them in season so they can use them appropriately. Just donated my fall ones on Thursday and will be working on Winter and Christmas ones next. There is a local person who will be sending Christmas cards to the soldiers in Afghanistan who is looking for cards so I will donate some to her cause as well.
I enjoy this process because requires less time and brain power than making cards from scratch, keeps a lot of paper from the landfill and gives them all a second life to bless someone else!

Consider refurbishing the commercial cards you receive and donating them to a worthy cause - a seniors home, a non profit organization or as small prizes for fundraising for a group to which you belong. Be creative!!

Therese

My Art - Fat book page

Created this page for a friend of mine. I usually take a few days after the WAF to stay and play at her house!! As always it was really great to be at her house. She has a wonderful space for creating and does awesome art. You can check out her blog. She is a teacher and was back to school this week! I hope the little package I sent will cheer her once she is back from school and the gym!!

I printed a full sheet of beauty images onto a transparency. Cut out this one and used photo corners to attach to the page. I had to trim the corners because the backs can be seen through the image. Used glossy and stamped with an antique looking fabric image in a coordinating colour and added a purple ribbon with a heart charm.

We worked on cards as well. She was finding it hard to get back into cards after having mostly created altered art projects so we played with the Cuttlebug and she was very quickly back into the flow of cardmaking. We discovered that you can use the Cuttlebug embossing folders in her pasta machine - been in the upper cupboard for a while!! Nicely repurposed into her stamping studio and one of the settings will easily shred paper for making hanmade paper!!

She created this wonderful Asian book in our creative days!! Check it out!! She is on the Altered Pages design team and I think her little Asian Love Book turned out great!!

Therese

My Art - Fat book page mingle

I created this beauty page for the Yalpha mingle! I cut all sorts of images from my printed collage images and glued them tastefully to this letter B. Added another layered flower embellishment and some typewriter letter punchies to the back!! I am really liking these large letters!!

I create them in Corel Draw - use any design program - and then print them out. Create them with a white fill or no fill so you just get the outline then cut them out and embellish away!! It was fun digging through the stash to find images that worked and were the right size!!

Therese